I got yet another comment about how much weight I’ve lost today, from somebody who’s only met me a half-dozen times. Apparently, I used to be quite the fat slob, or something.
Anyway, for those who care, the third-quarter weight-loss figures are below the fold, including a spiffy color graph. Because it’s not science without graphs…
(Yes, I’m a huge dork… If I’d posted this during the nerd-off, I might’ve made the Top Five…)
Explanation of the color code: I started tracking my weight on January 5, and making a concerted attempt to lose some weight by cutting out snacks, taking the staris, and playing more basketball. I dropped a good deal of weight fairly quickly, and about two weeks into that, I started having heartburn problems.
The red points are the Bad Times: the gap in the data is Boskone, and shortly after that, I had my first appointment with the gastroenterologists, who told me that I needed to stop eating pretty much everything that I was eating at the time. I effectively went on a crash diet at that point, because there’s only so much nutrition you can get from white rice and steamed vegetables, and I dropped weight at a really unhealthy rate. It didn’t help a bit with the heartburn, either, and just left me with no energy.
The gap followed by a big spike up (green points) was a trip to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. This is where I discovered the healing power of beer– I went because I couldn’t pass up the spectacle of this particular bachelor party, and decided I would go against medical advice and have a few drinks, because I couldn’t very well not drink with my college friends. I had quite a few drinks, as it turned out, and I felt great— basically no heartburn, despite eating all manner of things from the forbidden foods list.
The next gap is DAMOP, where I spent a week in Tennessee, had some more beers, and no problems, and the yellow points are the early summer, where I decided that the dietary advice I’d gotten was mostly a bunch of crap, and started eating a little more, with more variety.
The blue points pick up after the wedding of the friend whose bachelor party I went to in Vegas (more booze, no heartburn problems), and run up through the present. There might be a very slight downward trend to the data in this region, but my weight has been basically constant since mid-July, at a bit under 230 lbs. Considering I was on the high side of 280 last year at this time, that’s pretty good.
The heartburn finally started to ease up in late July/ early August, and since then I’ve actually started to see some health benefits from the weight loss. My energy level has been better, my basketball game has improved, etc. There was a point in mid-April when I was about ready to punch anybody who mentioned the subject of weight loss, though…
Anyway, that’s the diet update, for those who care. I don’t forsee any major changes in the near future, though I’ll continue the daily weigh-ins, because that’s what it takes to keep me honest. And I’ll keep updating the graph, because I’m an enormous nerd.
When I moved from Melbourne, where there is no geography, to Brisbane, where there is real geography, almost as much as in SF, I dropped 10 kilos, from 105 to 95, and I’m hovering around 96 now (that’s about 210lbs for the Unreformed). If I did exercise and watched my diet I might hit 85kgs. But I’m not so OCD as to actually track my wieght like you…
It sounds pretty clear to me that you know the antitode to your hearburn : beer.
I would continue to administer the treatment as often as possible, if I were you.
Being British, I glanced at the graph and thought ‘he lost 50 lbs in ten days? Bloody hell.’
I had heartburn problems big-time before my ‘A’ exam. It was probably a confulence of stress and week genetics. It took about two years for it to subside, and like you, I lost a lot of weight during that period. None of the suggestions of my gastrenterologist were very helpful, nor any of the tests particularly revealing. In the end, I found that if I just eat less, more or less independant of the food (except super hot stuff is a problem, duh) I’m OK. No ‘second helping’ and I don’t have problems. Go figure.
In the end, I found that if I just eat less, more or less independant of the food (except super hot stuff is a problem, duh) I’m OK. No ‘second helping’ and I don’t have problems. Go figure.
I’ve actually found almost the exact opposite– it starts to flare up if I go too long without eating, and I have fewer problems if I take slightly bigger portions (to a point, anyway– if I really grossly overeat, I feel rotten, though not so much in a heartburn sort of way…). When it does start to act up, eating a handful of pretzels or something usually helps keep it from getting much worse. It’s at least as effective as antacid tablets.
(Of course, beer works for that, too…)